According to the widely scrutinized and undercounted data by the Ministry of Health, 1,992 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed and 139 more Iranians have died of the disease in the past 24 hours. 28 provinces out of 31 remain critical while students are forced to go to school in many of those provinces. However, some provinces or districts defied Education Minister’s directive and either postpone schools reopening or have made their education completely online.
In the meantime and with schools reopening being the hot issue of the day, Education Minister was summoned to the parliament where he denied any responsibility and said all decisions were made by the National Corona Combating Task Force and “we just carried out their orders.” However, despite all the reports and his own previous words, he said attendance is optional and all classes are taught online as well! On the other hand, when Ministry of Health was questioned about their decision to allow schools reopening across the country, even in red regions, Deputy Health Minister in Education Affairs admitted there would be a peak in cases based on other countries’ experiences.
At the same time, President of Islamic Republic was speaking at the cabinet meeting and said, “We thank all teachers, students and parents for following the protocols. We’re proud to be able to bring back the schools! Education is not the only aspect of schools, and so online presence cannot be a substitute for schools.” Another sign that he’s following Khamenei’s orders, as usual, and people’s lives don’t matter to the kleptocrats in the regime.
Health officials and experts continue to criticize resumption of school activities. Deputy head of Iran Medical Council warned about “extensive consequences” against the reopening and said, “It’s impossible for us to diagnose and control the virus in schools.” Dr. Minoo Mohraz, a member of National Task Force also said this is a huge mistake which can set back the efforts to contain the virus!
Hospitals are struggling with shortage of equipment and human resources. The staff have months of unpaid wages and more than 160 have died of the disease due to lack of masks and protective gears! The cases are on the rise and death rate has increased to 6.7% while the average in the world has decreased to around 4.5%! Graphs clearly show the ongoing crisis in the country for more than 201 days!
R0: 1.44
Total: 386,658 (+1,992)
Dead: 22,293 (+139)
Healed: 333,900
Critical: 3,722 (+14)
Admitted: 30,465 (+84)
Tests: 3,380,264
